This Week’s Match
RISE (12-15) at San Diego Mojo (14-12) // Thu., April 30 // 10 p.m. EDT // Viejas Arena
Watch: The Roku Channel at 10 p.m.
Season Series: 1-2 Overall, 1-0 Away. Fourth of four meetings overall, second of two at Viejas Arena
All-Time Regular Season Series: 5-6 Overall, 2-3 Away
Noteworthy: It’s the last match of the 2026 season for the Rise after being eliminated from playoff contention on Sunday, following San Diego’s 3-0 road win over the Columbus Fury. After winning the first meeting against the Mojo in San Diego on Jan. 23, the Rise have dropped the last two at home, on Feb. 12 in five sets and Feb. 26 in three sets. San Diego has won seven out of its last nine matches and is 8-5 at home this season.
On Tuesday, San Diego released a statement that Thursday’s contest against the Rise would be the franchise’s final home match. In lieu of playing in 2027, the Mojo planned to use that season to create and execute a strategic plan for 2028 and beyond.
Record Win Streak Snapped: The Rise gave a loud and energetic crowd plenty to cheer about in their home finale Saturday, but the Orlando Valkyries rallied from a 2-1 deficit to win by scores of 25-21, 20-25, 23-25, 25-23, 15-11.The defeat ended a franchise-best five-match winning streak for the Rise.
Playoff Dreams Dashed: On Sunday, the Mojo clinched the final spot in the 2026 MLV playoffs with a 3-0 sweep in Columbus. With one week remaining in the regular season, the four teams advancing to the MLV Championship in Frisco, Texas, on May 7-9 are the Indy Ignite, Dallas Pulse, San Diego Mojo, and Omaha Supernovas.
After reaching the championship match during the inaugural 2024 season, the Rise will miss the playoffs for the second consecutive year. The defending champion Orlando Valkyries will also not return to defend their title. The Supernovas are the only team to reach the postseason in all three seasons of the league's history.
Season Finale Overview: For the first time in team history, the Rise will not close out the season against the Supernovas. In 2024, Grand Rapids defeated Omaha in the regular-season finale at Van Andel Arena on May 12, before Omaha returned the favor in the championship match on May 18. Last season, the Supernovas again ended the Rise’s campaign, winning 3-1 in Grand Rapids.
For the Mojo, they still have one more regular-season match remaining on Sunday, May 3, in Indy before heading to the playoffs for the first time since the 2024 season.
West Coast Trip: Playing in San Diego had been a challenge for the Rise prior to this season, with a 1-3 record across their first two campaigns. That shifted early this year, when Grand Rapids earned a 3-1 win on Jan. 23.
The Rise were 3-1 when visiting the now-inactive Vegas Thrill in Las Vegas from 2024-25. Looking ahead, the league is adding Northern California in 2027.
Rhamat Re-emergence: After missing 11 matches due to injury, Rhamat Alhassan has started the last four matches and made an immediate impact for the Rise. She totaled 37 points across two home matches last week.
In a 3-2 win over the Atlanta Vibe on Wednesday, Alhassan posted 13 kills on a .500 hitting percentage, five digs, four blocks, one assist, and an ace. She followed that performance Saturday with 13 more kills (.344), six blocks, and four digs in a 3-2 loss against the Orlando Valkyries.
Across the two matches, Alhassan recorded 26 kills on a .411 hitting percentage, 10 blocks, nine digs, one assist, and one ace.
Hentzville Never Sleeps: Morgan Hentz is set to appear in a league-record 30 regular-season matches Thursday in San Diego, following her Feb. 13 trade to the Rise from the Omaha Supernovas. The two-time league Libero of the Year has played 118 sets this season and 320 in her Major League Volleyball career — both league records.
Hentz also leads the league with 452 digs this season, the second-most in an MLV campaign, trailing only her own 508 digs recorded with the Atlanta Vibe last year. Meanwhile, the Rise have established a new franchise single-season record with 1,845 team digs.
Point Getters: Grand Rapids needs 41 more points to surpass the franchise record for most points scored in a single season (2,480), set by last year’s squad. Six Rise players have eclipsed the 100-point mark this season: Paige Briggs-Romine (370), Carli Snyder (342), Elizabet Inneh (246), Alhassan (180), Alyssa Jensen (137), and Leah Meyer (103). Snyder (730) and Briggs-Romine (630) are at the top of the all-time Rise leaderboard for points scored.
Third-Set Swings: The Rise have won six straight third sets, doing so by an average margin of 4.5 points. The recent surge marks a sharp turnaround from the first half of the season, when Grand Rapids dropped the third set in 11 of its first 14 matches.
Block Party: Grand Rapids has recorded 10 or more blocks in 19 matches this season, including 14 out of the last 16 matches. The Rise have an MLV-leading 283 blocks this season, led by Jensen (54) and Alhassan (48).
Rise-Mojo Connections: Notable shared history between the two teams:
· A trio of Mojo players previously played for the Rise: Martin Grote (2024-25), Shannon Scully (2024), and Kayla Caffey (2024);
· Rise setter Saige Ka'aha'aina-Torres and Caffey won the 2022 NCAA National Championship with Texas;
· Rise libero Hentz and Mojo middle blocker McKenna Vicini won the 2019 NCAA National Championship with Stanford;
· Rise opposite hitter Lauren Jardine-Clark and Mojo outside hitter Grace Loberg won the 2021 NCAA National Championship with Wisconsin. They also played together last year with the Vegas Thrill, alongside Rise players Allison Mayfield and Berkeley Oblad, and Vegas first-year head coach Alisha Childress and setter Carly Graham.
Photo by Nicolas Carrillo/Rise